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光宗耀祖

guāng zōng yào zǔdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to bring honor to one's ancestors
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-838fc6b57b378585. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

光宗耀祖 光宗耀祖 [guang1 zong1 yao4 zu3] /to bring honor to one's ancestors/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 光
    guāng

    light / ray (CL:道[dào]) / bright / shiny / only / merely / used up / finished / to leave (a part of the body) uncovered

  • 宗
    zōng

    school / sect / purpose / model / ancestor / clan / to take as one's model (in academic or artistic work) / classifier for batches, items, cases (medical or legal), reservoirs

    Zōng

    surname Zong

  • 耀
    yào

    brilliant / glorious

  • 祖
    zǔ

    ancestor / forefather / grandparents

    Zǔ

    surname Zu

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.